ISLAMABAD: Situation remained critical in Jalalpur Pirwala and surrounding areas sandwiched between Chenab and Sutlej on Monday with a dangerous waterflow at Panjnad as authorities continued evacuating citizens amid the threats of floodwaters breaching the dykes around the city.
Earlier on Sunday, the government had directed the people to leave the Jalalpur Pirwala city and had started a rescue operation to transport them to safety.
Read more: Evacuation orders for Jalalpur Pirwala amid Chenab, Sutlej threat
Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz himself monitored the process late into the night while the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) DG reached the area to supervise the government response.
And in Kasur, the Sutlej River was in exceptionally high flood with a discharge of 319,295 as the persistent flooding had started to weaken the protective levees including the one at Talwar Post.
The situation is a result of Sutlej witnessing high to exceptionally high flood at Ganda Singh Wala since August 20, with a peak of 385,569 cusecs on August 29.
Meanwhile, the strong monsoon weather system was producing intense rains in southern and central Punjab — a region already devastated by record-breaking floods and coping with the rising waters of Chenab and Sutlej.
A vast region from Chiniot and Jhang to Multan is currently submerged and more areas are on the verge of being inundated as gushing waters swept away levees.
The same weather system was also generating heavy downpours in Sindh which is set to start facing the floods in the coming days.
INDUS WATERS TREATY
Meanwhile, the persistent alarming flood level at Ganda Singh Wala is a result of India releasing water from its reservoirs built on the two eastern rivers — Sutlej and Beas — without following the protocols set in the Indus Waters Treaty.
India had suspended the Indus Waters Treaty soon after the Pahalgam attack and isn’t sharing any information through Indus Water Commission, formally named as Permanent Indus Commission.
However, New Delhi has been forwarding information through diplomatic channels during the current floods, but the absence of complete data means Pakistan cannot take necessary actions on timely basis.
THE STATE OF RIVERS
The latest Flood Forecasting Division (FFD) data at 3pm on Monday showed that Sutlej was in exceptionally high flood — 319,295 cusecs — at Ganda Singh Wala.
It means Sulemanki and Islam in its downstream were also in high flood — 137,521 cusecs and 120,598 cusecs respectively. And the exceptionally high flood at Ganda Singh Wala with more waterflow from India expected means there is no relief in sight for the people living in the downstream areas.
On the other hand, water was rising at Sidhnai with the flow in Ravi recorded at 135,757 cusecs, representing exceptionally high flood which was ultimately feeding Chenab.
However, waterflow was decreasing at Balloki — 125,995 cusecs — and Shahdara — 67,980 cusecs.
But most worrying spot right now apart from Ganda Singh Wala was Panjnad with a very high flood of 524,762 cusecs at 3pm.
At Trimmu in the north, the river discharge was 531,993 cusecs.
It means flood threat would remain very high downstream of Trimmu as well as in and around Panjnad where the flow was bound to increase because of being the confluence of Chenab and Sutlej.
It’s a developing story. Details to follow